


'tis the damn season

by itainthardtryin



Category: Teenage Bounty Hunters (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, soft angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28248201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itainthardtryin/pseuds/itainthardtryin
Summary: It's Sterling and April's first Christmas together as a couple, and they spend Christmas Eve having a movie night with Blair.Canon compliant, but set a year or so later. Mostly just cute fluff but with some references to the events of the finale (in an ultimately happy way...). Also, for the sake of letting gays be happy, in my headcanon everyone eventually accepted Sterling and April and they're now the school power couple.(This is a Christmas present for my friend, Emma! :) Merry Christmas!)
Relationships: April Stevens & Blair Wesley, April Stevens/Sterling Wesley, Blair Wesley & Sterling Wesley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 66





	'tis the damn season

Sterling’s in the kitchen taking some cookies out of the oven when she hears the doorbell ring. She’s been waiting for that sound all day and her heart soars knowing April is finally here. She sets the cookies down to cool and almost runs to the door but restrains herself to try not to look too keen.   
  
“Hey,” she says, opening the door to reveal her very cute and very cosy looking girlfriend standing on the porch, wrapped up in a beanie, scarf and gloves.  
  
“Hey to you too,” April replies with a soft smile as her words evaporate in the cold night air. Sterling takes a step back to let April in and is greeted with a kiss. It’s quick and innocent and part of their daily routine now, but Sterling’s still not quite used to it and she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to kissing April when every time feels like _this_. “Did you bake cookies for us?” April asks as the smell hits her when she walks in.

“I was going to surprise you but I guess I forgot that you can’t really hide… that,” she laughs, taking in the scent of the warm cookies that has now spread throughout the house.  
  
“No, not really.” April takes off her coat, scarf and the other layers she was wearing and Sterling takes them from her to hang up on the rack. “Such a gentleman,” April flirts. 

“Maybe if men still acted like gentlemen and didn’t leave it all to women they’d have more luck in dating girls like us. But I guess it’s working in our favour that they don’t…” April’s barely been inside the house for thirty seconds, but Sterling already finds herself pulling her girlfriend in and April’s arms automatically reach around Sterling’s neck in response. Sterling’s eyes flick down to April’s lips for a split second before she’s meeting them with her own. Kissing April is the softest, safest and _hottest_ thing she’s ever experienced. She starts to feel lost in it when- 

“Seriously? If this is what tonight’s going to be then we’re definitely watching Jaws and not that Christmas romcom you chose,” Blair jokes. “I mean, you won’t be watching it anyway…” 

“Hi Blair,” April says, pulling back from the kiss with a smile.

“At least you made cookies. I call dibs on getting first choice.”

“Can’t you at least be a little hospitable to our guest?” Sterling asks with fake annoyance.

“Sterl, she’s here, like, five days a week. And she’s got you. I’m still working on my personal female empowerment journey and thriving in my singledom. And part of that journey is getting the best cookie. Are you going to deprive me of that one simple joy?”   
  
“You can have first pick, Blair,” April tells her. “And you’re right, Sterling’s definitely better than a cookie.”   
  
“Wow, the bar is incredibly low here, but… thank you?”

“Low?” Blair teases. “I guess you’ve never had a really, really good cookie.” 

“And I guess I never will,” Sterling says quietly, laughing with April as she watches Blair make her way to the kitchen. 

//

It turns out that all of Sterling’s cookies were great. Maybe a bit _too_ great, as an hour later all three of them are lying on the couch - Blair on one, Sterling and April wrapped around each other on the other - unable to move because they’re all so full from eating the entire batch in one sitting. 

“Would you judge me if I had a nap right now?” April asks, cuddling into Sterling’s side.   
  
“Yes, I absolutely would.”   
  
“I think it’d be worth it.” April rests her head on Sterling’s chest and closes her eyes pretending to sleep. Sterling runs her fingers through April’s hair softly. “I’m giving you one minute to nap and then we’re putting on the movie. That you’re not going to sleep through.”   
  
“One minute is better than no minutes.”   
  
“Can’t argue with that logic,” Blair chimes in from across the room.

  
//

  
They’re halfway through the movie when Blair says, “I’m Team Riley.”   
  
“Me too,” Sterling agrees.   
  
April pauses for a second. “I’m still undecided.”   
  
Sterling looks at her in confusion. “We’re watching the same film, right, babe? You’re seeing how Harper’s treating Abby right now?!”   
  
“Yeah, and it’s not that straightforward. I mean, I kinda did the same thing to you…” April trails off, remembering how she just couldn’t take that leap in public even though she was the happiest she’d ever been. “And it sucked, and it hurt both of us, but we made it out the other side stronger than we ever thought we could be.”   
  
Sterling doesn’t like to be reminded of _that night_ but April does have a point. They really are the power couple in school now, which is pretty much the opposite of what they expected. Even Ellen welcomed them with open arms once she’d had time to talk to God about it.

“I’m still team Riley,” Blair says, rolling her eyes at the dumb smile on Sterling’s face as she gives April a kiss on the forehead.   
  
“I can’t argue with you about how we worked out,” Sterling tells April. “But I have to say, I’m with Blair on this one. I mean RIley and Abby would be a power couple to rival us.” 

“They would be hot together, I’ll give you that,” April laughs. 

//

“Okay, I’ll always be Team Riley, but these photos are pretty damn cute,” Blair says as the credits roll. Sterling watches them and thinks about how her Instagram feed started looking pretty similar this year. There’s pictures of her and April at Pride with Blair, Bowser and her parents, there’s the family group shot from Thanksgiving, and there’s many, many photos of them kissing each other on the cheek or cuddling (which, if it was on anyone else’s feed she’d think was gross, but it’s her and April so it’s cute, okay?). “I’m going to get ready for bed, I’m still pretty sleepy from those cookies earlier. I’ll come back down though before April goes.” 

Sterling doesn’t think Blair’s tired at all, but is sure that she’s only saying that to give her and April some alone time together. She didn’t think she could love Blair more, but it’s little things like this that really make her heart swell. 

Sterling and April lie on the couch in comfortable silence for a while until the credits come to an end. “I really like hanging with you and Blair,” April says softly. “Y’know, when we started dating I was so worried about getting her approval. I didn’t even really care if your parents approved - well, I mean I _did,_ but not in the way I cared about Blair’s opinion.”   
  
Sterling smiles at her girlfriend’s admission. “Blair’s not as scary as everyone thinks she is.”   
  
“I know that now. And I think I even knew that before. But she’s the person that means most to you and I knew this wouldn’t work if she still hated me.” 

“I’ve told you so many times, Blair didn’t hate you. She just... wasn’t your biggest fan. But you won her over because, honestly, who could resist your charm?” Sterling leans in to meet April halfway when she moves to kiss her. She’s been waiting to properly kiss April all night after being interrupted at the door earlier.   
  
They shift positions and Sterling lies with her back flat on the couch and pulls April down onto her. The weight of April’s body covering her own drives Sterling wild. She knows they’re not going to have sex right here on the couch while Blair could come back downstairs at any moment, but there’s only one place Sterling’s mind goes when April’s kissing her like this _._ _  
_ _  
_ Sterling deepens their kiss and lets out a soft moan when she feels April’s tongue meet her own. One of her hands drifts to the waistband of April’s jeans, while the other cups her neck and pulls her in even closer. Sterling plays with the belt loops on April’s waistband to stop herself from reaching round to unbutton them instead. 

April pulls back after what could have been five seconds or five minutes. All Sterling knows is it wasn’t enough time to be bringing this make out session to a close. “We need to cool down,” April pants with reddened cheeks. “There is _nothing_ I want more right now than to take these off and make you feel amazing, but I refuse to be caught in the act and that’s absolutely what’s going to happen if we don’t stop right now.” Sterling shudders as April’s hands wander along her stomach, teasing how easy it would be to undress Sterling right now, but somehow she manages to resist. 

“You’re right,” she says reluctantly, sitting up so she’s not tempted to just risk it all anyway. “But we need to do something else to distract me, because right now I am only thinking of _one thing_.”

April looks around the room trying to think of _anything_ for them to do that won’t end up with them naked on the Wesley’s couch. She studies their Christmas tree for a moment and realises that the ornaments are all different, so she gets up and walks towards it. “Tell me about these decorations. These look like they tell a story.” 

Sterling gets up off the couch and joins her, admiring how beautiful April looks in the soft glow of the Christmas lights. “Oh they do. Some of these are maybe 50 or 60 years old, passed down through our family.”

“Which one’s your favourite?”   
  
Sterling thinks for a minute and then points to two snowmen that are placed beside each other. They’re completely identical apart from the fact that one says ‘Sterling’ and the other says ‘Blair’. “These two. My mom bought these for us when we were kids,” she explains. “We must have been about four or five, and we were at the mall and she said we could get ornaments for the tree. I wanted the angel ones but Blair being Blair she thought they were too girly and wanted the snowmen instead. Mom said we could get whichever ones we wanted but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to get different ones. So I gave in and we got identical snowmen.” 

April notices a hint of sadness in her girlfriend’s voice but doesn’t interrupt. “We always joked about how our snowmen had to be identical because we weren’t.” She swallows hard. “When we were young and met new kids at school or at church they’d always tell us we didn’t _look_ like twins... and when you hear that enough it starts to chisel away at you. I’d lie awake at night thinking up all these crazy scenarios where my worst nightmares would come true, and one of them was that I’d find out that Blair wasn’t actually my twin. But I didn’t ever think it would actually happen.” 

Sterling never takes her eyes off the tree. April silently slips their fingers together and softly brushes her thumb over the back of Sterling’s hand. “And the weird thing is, not one of those crazy scenarios was as insane as the actual reality of finding out.” 

Of course April knows the whole story - there have been nights where April let Sterling scream and get mad at the world for flipping everything she knew on its head, nights when she let Sterling drink just a little too much to momentarily forget, and many nights where Sterling cried so hard April thought if she didn’t hold her tight enough she might actually break. But it’s not something that Sterling talks about often anymore, so April doesn’t push. 

“But they’re still my favourite because they make me think of how fiercely Blair would defend us being twins to anyone who doubted it for a second, and how she still does the same to this day, even though...” 

Sterling trails off leaving the “we’re not” unsaid. April can’t help but get a bit choked up at Sterling’s honesty and her chest aches for the pain Sterling’s gone through in this past year. There’s so much she wants to say but she can’t find the words, so instead she opts for “I love you”.

April notices how Sterling visibly relaxes as she takes the words in. Sterling squeezes April’s hand a little tighter as if to remind herself that even though her whole life was flipped upside down, she still somehow landed firmly on solid ground. “I love you, too,” Sterling whispers. 

April leans in to rest her head on Sterling’s shoulder and listens carefully as Sterling moves on to tell her about the rest of the ornaments on the tree.   
  


//

  
By the time Blair comes back downstairs thirty minutes later, they’ve made their way into the kitchen to start washing up from Sterling’s baking. April’s put on some Christmas music on her phone and they’re laughing together as they play fight with bubbles from the sink.   
  
“Honestly, every time I walk in on you guys I think I’m going to throw up, and not because I’m still overflowing with cookies from earlier.”   
  
Sterling smiles and boops April’s nose with more bubbles. “Our plan’s working,” she laughs. “I mean, if we gross you out enough with how cute we are, maybe you’ll _stop_ walking in on us…”   
  
“You’re in our family kitchen,” Blair deadpans. “If I learn that you’ve done _anything_ in this room that isn’t suitable for a general audience I will never forgive you.” 

“What you don’t know won’t hurt you,” April smirks and she laughs as she watches Blair try to decide whether she’s serious or not. 

After a few seconds contemplating the possibility, Blair shakes it off and reveals an envelope that she’d be hiding behind her back. “I got you guys this.”   
  
Sterling dries her hands and opens the envelope, sliding out a card. On the front is a cartoon picture of two girls walking hand and hand in the snow with the caption ‘To my sister and her girlfriend at Christmas’. Sterling feels her heart soar and she swallows back her emotions but April notices. Sterling looks at her and sees that April’s eyes are just as watery as hers.   
  
“Thank you,” Sterling says with a sincerity that she reserves only for the special moments. After thinking she’d lost both the girl she loved and her sister in one clean swoop, to have both of them here with her, and to have her sister - always and forever her sister, regardless of who gave birth to them - fully embrace April as part of the family, is more joy than she thought possible.   
  
Blair smiles knowingly, “Oh, and I got this for you, April.” She hands April a small red box with a gold bow tied around it. April takes it and looks at Sterling, who just looks back silently with eyes that say ‘I don’t know what it is either’.   
  
April unties the bow and lifts off the lid to reveal an angel ornament that says ‘April’ on it. It’s a similar style to Sterling and Blair’s snowmen ornaments on the tree. She lifts it out and handles it like it’s the most delicate thing she’s ever touched - in many ways it is, or at least what it symbolises is. “You’re a Wesley now,” Blair says. “Well, technically you’re still a Stevens, obviously, but you’re part of the family here,” she laughs. “And anyway, how will that work if you guys get married? Will you become April Wesley? Sterling Stevens? Double barrel?”   
  
Sterling’s eyes go wide at the thought. “Blair, we’ve been dating for, like, eight months. Calm down,” she says, pretending to be cool about it, but inside her heart is racing. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t already imagined a life as Sterling Wesley-Stevens. 

“I’ve always liked the air of superiority that comes with a double barrelled surname,” April jokes. “I feel like I could pull it off.”   
  
“You definitely could,” Sterling agrees with a smile.   
  
“Well? Are you going to put it on the tree?” Blair asks in anticipation.   
  
“Oh, right, yeah,” April stutters as all three of them make their way back to the living room. When they reach the tree, April pauses for a second to look at the ornament again, taking a moment to really soak in how loved she feels by both Sterling and Blair right now. She reaches out and hangs the ornament proudly beside the snowmen. All three of them watch as the ornament swings gently on the branch for a few seconds before coming to a stop.   
  
“Imagine going back in time and telling our past selves that we’d be standing here at Christmas with me and April dating and you two being friends.”   
  
Blair laughs. “If you’d given past me a million guesses, I still never would have said this.”   
  
“I’d love to know what your other guesses would have been.”   
  
“One of them would have involved me touring the world as the lead singer in a heavy metal band, so this one’s kinda boring in comparison.” Sterling punches Blair in the arm playfully.

The three of them let a comfortable moment pass before Blair says, “I’m going to bed for real now though. Please don’t have sex on the couch. Or anywhere else I sit, sleep or eat for that matter.”

“Can’t promise anything,” Sterling jokes, again leaving Blair wondering if any part of their house is still pure. 

//

“I should get going,” April says an hour later, trying to hold back a yawn for about the tenth time in a row. She’s getting tired, but she doesn’t want to say goodbye to Sterling.   
  
“I wish you could stay over,” Sterling pouts. “Imagine waking up together on Christmas Day.” 

“We will. One day,” April replies without hesitation. Hope rises in Sterling’s chest imagining the future they’re going to have together. “But I’ll see you at church in the morning.”

April makes her way to the door and puts her coat, hat and gloves back on. “I had a really good time tonight.” 

“Me too.”

Sterling pulls April in closer and kisses her for a few seconds, slow and delicate. Even though April’s got her coat on,the kiss feels more intimate than when they were on the couch earlier. They both pull back, slightly breathless. 

A soft smile takes over April’s face. “I really have to go now before the roads get too icy.” 

Sterling clears her throat. “Yeah, please drive safe,” she says, opening the door. She shivers slightly as the cold December air hits them.   
  
“I’ll text you when I’m home,” April reassures her.   
  
  
//

Sterling’s phone chimes ten minutes later with a text from April. 

_home now... but to be honest, I felt more at home with you._

Sterling blushes as she types out her reply.   
  
_you feel like home to me too._

**Author's Note:**

> FYI: for the one person reading this who hasn't watched it, the film is Happiest Season ;)


End file.
